Perfect

This weekend has been pretty perfect really.

Autumn has finally landed, hurrah! My favourite time of the year.

The temperature has dropped slightly, the trees are a beautiful golden hue and it is time to bring out the stew pots.

Yesterday I made an early morning trip into the town for some essentials. I don't like shopping at the weekend, so it seemed the best thing to go first thing. It was really very quiet, just how we like it :)

We were home by 10 o Clock, after a rather white knuckle bus ride home, as the main car is still out of action, and Papa had mine. 

We were straight in the door and into the kitchen, making some soup. It seemed so homely and perfect, with the nippy weather out of doors.

On the menu was a first for me, Grandpaaa's Leek and Potato Soup. He makes it so beautifully so I asked him for the recipe. As I expected, my rendition wasn't quite as good as Grandpa's, but everyone seemed to enjoy it none the less.

Mr Bee and I also made some bread, making a big loaf from me and a small one from Lou, that has become tradition now. 

Mr Bee had some wicked fun doing the washing up for nearly half an hour. 

Isaac, 3 months

Then came the arrival of our wonderful friends, Anna, Sam and Baby Isaac. It turned out that we hadn't seen our closest friends for two months. It was lovely to see them all, especially Isaac, who has grown so much!

We had such a cosy afternoon, snuggled up watching Flubber and searching for a bicycle for myself whilst Mr Bee slept. I would love a vintage one, but its seeming hard to get one to suit me. I have however, found two new cycles that I love.

Claud Butler Windsor

Dawes Duchess

Which one do you prefer?!

Sunday has been just as lovely. Waking up later than normal, then climbing into bed to watch cartoons. A quick trip to the supermarket was followed by a quick Al-Fresco lunch, as Papa was all dirty from getting the Astra ready for its new cylinder head. 

 After another lazy afternoon from Mr Bee, taking a two hour long nap!! I managed to steal away for a few hours to get crafting. I managed to make some Lavender Bags ready for the fair, and prep some rings ready for sewing. Not too much that I want to get done now.

 Back to work in the morning!

Invites

Getting ready for Mr Bee's birthday party :)

Stock

I have been so busy getting prepared for the craft fair I have a stall at next weekend. I seem to be a very busy bunny but still have a long way to go before I have enough to take with me!

I thought I would wet your appetite with what I have prepared so far.

Cards

Various Sized Gadget Case

Felt Gadget Cases

Russian Dollies

Felt Rings (need more of these!)

Utility Apron

Regular Half Apron

Everything so far, all, together

Hopefully I can get everything finished and ready in 9 days! Wish me luck!!

Kitchen Day

Today I have spent most of my day in the kitchen. I enjoy making things in the kitchen on my day off, and as I promised to make something yummy for Dani at work on Wednesday, I got my bake on.

I am thoroughly enthralled in The Great British Bake Off for the second year now, I just love the recipes and all the great hints and tips you can get. One of their technical challenges in the past weeks was a Chocolate Roulade. I hunted the same Mary Berry recipe down, and got cracking.

Just as I was about to take the sponge out of the oven, I had a text from Papa, asking to be picked up from Uni, being a car down is a bit of a pain. This meant I had to leave the house to do all my errands, in an absolute tip! Luckily it allowed the sponge to cool and was ready for me to prepare after we had our dinner.

I think Mary Berry would be proud! It rolled quite well, I remember getting a 10 out of 10 for my Swiss Roll when we made them in school, so I must just have the nack. I had to roll it whilst an eager Mr Bee was begging me for some, it really was tasty when we tucked in to it! I hope Dani enjoys it tomorrow!

Feeling a bit fancy, we decided to have Stuffed Chicken Thighs and Potato Rostis for our dinner. The Chicken, stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon was delicious, the rosti however wasn't so great. The taste was perfect, but I made them too thick I think and the baby one was the only one that was cooked through well enough. I have learned my lesson though, and will make them thinner next time.

Daddy Bees, Mummy Bees and Baby Bees Rosti

 We needed to make a quick dash to the shop, and Mr Bee said that he wanted to come with me, and not wanting to take too long I got the sling to carry him there and back. However, he insisted that Sonny, our cat, came with us, in the sling. So jokingly, I picked him up and put him in the sling! He was very calm about the whole thing, and seemed very comfortable. I just had to get a photo, the silly cat!
However, Mr Bee seeing someone else in his sling, on his mummy, didn't like it one bit, and insisted that he 'got doooooown' and that he got in instead. What a funny pair they are!



The Christening of Sophie-Mae

Today we all got together at Saint Andrews Church for the Christening of my niece, Sophie-Mae. It was another beautiful day, perfect for the special little lady.

Sophie-Mae



Louie and I in the church, we did get some funny comments about the toddler wearing!

 It was a lovely service, Sophie-Mae was a little star, so quiet and well behaved. So was Mr Bee, he had a really long sleep in my arms, soothed by the singing of the hymns.

Sophie-Mae and Nana

 After the service, we retreated to Martin and Beccy's 'local' for the little party. Mr Bee was proving to be very restless after his lovely sleep, which is so out of the ordinary for my bright little boy. We had lots of fun meeting all the families and also seeing Katie and Kayleigh from Nursery!

Louie and Emily

 Because Mr Bee was so restless, I thought it a good idea to take him to the park across the road to cheer him up a little. Emily came with us too. It was lovely to go to the park that I used to go to when we lived in our old house, about 16 years ago. It certainly brought back some memories.

Playing in the autumn leaves



 They had a lovely time playing together. We walked back and had our photographs taken with the family then headed home, as Mr Bee was clearly suffering. It was getting very hot and he has four teeth coming through. After moaning in discomfort all the way home, he finally fell asleep with me in the garden

I hope Sophie-Mae, Martin and Beccy had a wonderful day celebrating the baptism, as I know we all had a lovely time :)

Indian Summer

We are having fun enjoying this wonderful Indian Summer that has landed upon us in late September. Yesterday, I took my Bees for a break down to our local pub for a quick drink and a bite to eat. Papa bee has been working very hard to fix his car so very much deserved a treat.

 We got the train set out to play with in the conservatory too, it is one of Mr Bees favourite toys. He will play for hours with his train set.

 This weather is great for pretty nappies, no need for clothes in this heat just a nice owly nappy!

Sharing his bread with Sonny Jim

 I very rarely talk about our 4th memeber of the household, Sonny as he doesn't seem to sit still enough for good pictures! However, he was being very tolerant to the camera today so I snapped him whilst I could.

Whats this then?

 We have visitors down to stay again this time, this time my Auntie Bonny and Iain. They are down for Sophie-Maes Christening tomorrow. Mr Bee has taken to Iain and wants him to play everything together.

Bumblybee

 Our garden is going a beautiful colour at the moment. All the summer flowers have shrivelled now, but some red ivy has appeared from over the fence, and the lillies have flowered to a beautiful dark pink colour.

It has gotten hotter and hotter and Mr Bee has gotten stickier and stickier so it was time to get the washing basket out to have a cool down.

Reading Jane Austen on the Kindle with Auntie Bonny

Washing hands and stealing the Swarfega from Papa

Playing cars with Iain, big kiddie

Someone got very muddy feet, thanks to Papa fixing the car and tinkering in the garage. There are black footprints all over the place! His feet were washed about 3 times, they are oil stained for good I think!
We all enjoyed an al-fresco chinese around the table which was just lovely. Mr Bee really enjoyed himself, chomping on a piece of duck!

Then as the sun went down (shhh! sleeping!) we carried on playing in the garden, as it was so pleasant out there. We were singing and Auntie Bonny taught Mr Bee a new song about owls.

Despite having a nap at about 5:30, we still need to all get an early night ready for Sophie-Mae's Christening in the morning!